Empathy, Inc.

For a movie that initially tastes like an unexpected treat, it’s especially disappointing that Empathy, Inc.’s third act sours and leaves a bitter aftertaste.

A clever indie suspense that draws on fantasy-tinged notions of virtual reality and identity exchange to create an ingenious tale more in the realm of an intimately-scaled thriller than sci-fi.

Empathy, Inc. has the compactness of a Poe short story or a “Twilight Zone” parable. But its third act surprises aren’t surprising at all. Suspense is created when the audience is a step ahead of the heroine/hero, not five steps ahead.

A killer concept falls frustratingly short of the finish line in Empathy, Inc., a dark morality tale that ambitiously casts contemporary technology in a throwback visual setting.

The second film by director Yedidya Gorsetman Empathy, Inc. is a neo-noir sci-fi thriller that utilizes its resources in a way that compliments the plot perfectly. This intimate thriller follows Joel (Zack Robidas) as he navigates through life, looking for a new venture to fund after losing everything to a failed investment. Joel is introduced to a cutting edge company that uses a technology called “Extreme Virtual Reality” to provide clients with a hyper realistic virtual experience. Joel’s curiosity begins to get the best of him and when he investigates the product on his own he realizes that there is more to it that he imagined. This film follows the concept of a tech startup and the props and settings used in the movie compliment the values of the company well. The company that Joel invests in is called Empathy, Inc. and is working with an incomplete, extremely advanced technology which is why the setting of an old, dingy warehouse works well as the site of the companies location. Surrounding the basic computer, chair, and helmet that make up the basic components of the XVR technology are several other unidentifiable gadgets. These various random machines with buttons and levers let the audience imagine a workshop like setting that has most likely seen many instances of trial and error throughout the process of creating a new technology without explicitly showing it. Instead of using special effects in order to express the idea of creating a secretive, potentially dangerous tech, this film lets the audience use context clues in order to imagine what happened off screen. This movie is incredibly entertaining and somehow encompases both future and retro feelings through setting and props and I highly recommend checking it out on VOD when you can!

I am always looking for mind twister movies that use dialogue to foreshadow an overall theme of the movie. I recently watched an indie film called Empathy, Inc, a movie about a man joining a virtual reality startup company to soon realize the reality of it all is not virtual. The writer of this film, David Leinder, in my opinion did an excellent job adding dialogue in the film to unravel the storyline more. It made it fun to pick up on these sentences as they were usually added during a suspenseful scene. Towards the end of the film I picked up on a quote from Lester (Jay Klaitz) that hinted of where his company XVR all began. “When I was a kid, they told me we could be anything we wanted to be, I actually believed it”. This quote was so powerful to me during the climax of the film as it revealed the reason behind his wicked virtual reality company. I strongly advise watching this thrilling movie.

Reminiscent of noir and neo-noir films, Empathy Inc. takes an inventive feel on sci-fi and thriller genres with this indie masterpiece. Both Director Yedidya Gorsetman and Cinematographer Darin Quan’s work shines through as we follow Joel (Zack Robidas) on his increasingly tense journey as his past failures lead him to an unnerving VR startup. This disconcerting feeling is represented on-screen as Quan’s cinematography adds weight to the indie film through noir-esque monochromatic visuals and inventive shots that really bring out the emotions of the film. One particular scene that effortlessly does this is the palpable close-up of Robidas through the crack of a hotel door that visualizes his desperation for success no matter the consequences. Not only entertaining but a true masterclass in visual storytelling and emotive cinematography, if you’ve got the time I can't recommend Empathy Inc. more!

Empathy, Inc. is a well-written sci-fi thriller that explores the true meaning of self, the consequences of immersive technology, and the gray areas that fall between. This disorienting story is brought to life by the protagonist Joel (Zack Robidas), a failed venture capitalist who becomes involved with a VR startup. Robdias’s performance is eerily realistic as he successfully plays the role of both a disillusioned husband, and cynical businessman. What stood out to me the most from this film is the writing as Mark Leidner is able to shift a seemingly tense white-collar drama, to something even bigger. With dialogue and situations that implicitly discuss class, and morality, Leidner is able to impact viewers even after they've finished the film. As a fan of realistic sci-fi, I believe Empathy, Inc. is a prime example of great writing enhanced by its actors. I highly recommend it.

In a film far different than what you may be used to, a Sci-Fi thriller with a twist of Horror, Empathy, Inc. does a great job of keeping the viewer interested in the wild ride that follows. I can’t overstate enough just how many twists and turns this movie has, it feels like a Twilight Zone episode, and could easily be a Black Mirror episode. Luckily director Yedidya Gorsetman does a wonderful job of directing Mark Leidner’s enthralling script which had me super invested in what comes next for main character Joel (Zack Robidas) throughout the whole film. When Joel runs into an old friend Nicholaus (Eric Berryman), and Nicholaus tells Joel about the opportunity to invest in his start-up which is making a revolutionary new technology known as XVR (Extreme Virtual Reality). The technology presents a similar issue that we may be facing in the near future about the laws of morality in a virtual world. From there the technology is revealed as something far more sinister than Joel had been sold, and the film shows how Joel tries to overcome the mistake he has made. I’d recommend streaming the movie on VOD when you have some free time.